Which books?

[Charles T. Forests]

Which type books give you the most inspiration and ideas to make it easy write? Is it a single book? same genre? Self help, learning exercise books? Movies about books? or snippets and quotes or blurbs of books? Or promts?

 

[pmmg]

Which type books give you the most inspiration and ideas to make it easy write?

These are not really the same. Those that inspire, and those that make writing easier.


I am not sure my inspiration to write comes from reading books. I think it comes more from the culture around me, and the many things I question, and the many things I think can be done better.


To learn to write, I have a number of books that I found useful along the way. For me, I would take any 'how to write' book that is thin and gets to the point. I would avoid any that are overly thick and have pretentious titles like 'on writing'.


I do watch a lot of movies and mostly what I get from them is story construction. But not much else.


Here is a list I wrote out way back when. Still true today:



Books that helped me along the way:

Fantasy Reference - Not sure if I have exactly this one, but I have one like it.

You can Write a Romance - There are a number of books in this group by Writers Digest. You can write a Romance, You can write a mystery, You can write a ____... Short and to the point. I liked them. (And now that I am looking, there are some more, so I may buy another).

First Five Pages - I liked this book a lot when I was just starting. I think I have another by Mr. Lukeman, but I dont remember the title.

Elements of Style - Mentioned above. I have this one. There are many style guides, but I am old school. I defer to this when there is a question.

Art of Styling Sentences - I think it is this one. Another short and to the point (Notice a theme?)

English Grammar and Composition - I had my college English Grammar and Composition book, but I lost it I need to buy another (Edit, I did buy another)

Mythology - I have many books on Mythology, but Edith Hamilton's was the one I had in school


In looking for these, I came across some others I might buy in the near future.

Uncovering Mythology Collection

Fantasy Writers Handbook

How to Write Fantasy - Looks similar to the writers digest ones. Maybe....

Dear Writer, you need to quit - Okay, title grabbed me

Writing Voice - Voice always holds a strong interest from me.

Self Publishing Empire - But of course...

Though, if I am being honest, I am not expecting to get much out of these anymore.

Ones I did not like.....

Steven King's how to write book. Had a few good parts, but too much Steven King

On writing by Zinser? Hated this one. Too long winded, not enough getting to it.

Hero of a thousand faces. Kind of the bible right? I did not care for this book. Erudite is how I would describe it. Saying a lot while also saying nothing.

That's enough. Good luck with them.

And if you want my best advice, see rules below

 

[Rexenm]

I find when I stare at a wall I can get a fair idea about its anatomy. Or a cathedral. Then I can write about facts, otherwise it would annoy me. I prefer before the internet. When encyclopaedias were big, and the grasses were tall.

 

[Incanus]

You will probably have to find your own way through this.

I definitely take inspiration from my favorite writers, but a list of those won't help you or anyone else. It's my list. The chances you would react the same way to those writers is probably pretty small. Check in with your favorites, and keep an eye out for something new.

I have some overlap with pmmg, and some sharp differences as well. Neither of us are right or wrong.

I'm a fan of Elements of Style, Edith Hamilton's Mythology book, and some of those Writer's Digest books too.

The Stephen King book had a few OK things in it, but it was largely how to write a Stephen King book, which I have absolutely no intention of doing.

I'm a Joseph Campbell fan too. Hero with a Thousand Faces is an excellent book. But I would recommend the 6-part TV series made in the 80's with Bill Moyers as a great introduction to Campbell's work.

I don't think there is anything that will make writing easy, or easier. I've found it to be fiendishly difficult to get better at--but not impossible. It is not for the faint-hearted, or the impatient, or the thin-skinned.

Good luck!

 

[Prince of Spires]

I've got bad news for you. Writing is hard, and that's not going to change.

To write a book, you have to make yourself sit down in isolation behind a keyboard for something like 200 hours. And then do that again to edit the thing. That just is hard work, and it doesn't really get any easier.

As for learning about writing, I like the university lectures of Brandon Sanderson, which he posts for free on Youtube. They're a good introduction into writing Scifi/Fantasy. He also has a podcast, called Writing Excuses, which is nice inspiration and relatively short (think 15-20 minutes per episode).

Other inspiration for me comes from reader great and terrible books. Great books because they make me want to achieve that and make people feel things, terrible books because they make me think "I can do better than this."

 

[Avery Moore]

One little piece of advice I can think of. Whenever I sit down to write, before I type anything, I will read a single paragraph of a novel that has a similar tone, voice a prose to the novel that I'm trying to write. It helps me to keep the tone consistent.

 

[skip.knox]

I'll reiterate: writing is not easy. It's hard work, with emphasis on both adjective and noun.

As for inspiration, I've never needed to look for that. I have way more ideas than I have life span. Cutting them back, combining, slimming--that's my challenge. No one seems to write books on how to have fewer ideas.

 

[Prince of Spires]

No one seems to write books on how to have fewer ideas.

That sounds like a brilliant idea. Maybe you should write that...

 

[Karlin]

I've got bad news for you. Writing is hard, and that's not going to change.

To write a book, you have to make yourself sit down in isolation behind a keyboard for something like 200 hours. And then do that again to edit the thing. That just is hard work, and it doesn't really get any easier.

As for learning about writing, I like the university lectures of Brandon Sanderson, which he posts for free on Youtube. They're a good introduction into writing Scifi/Fantasy. He also has a podcast, called Writing Excuses, which is nice inspiration and relatively short (think 15-20 minutes per episode).

Other inspiration for me comes from reader great and terrible books. Great books because they make me want to achieve that and make people feel things, terrible books because they make me think "I can do better than this."

200 hours? I wish I could do it that fast.

 

[pmmg]

Two I forgot to mention

Dragon Grammar Book <--had to buy this cause of the dragon. Quick and to the point. I like it.

Emotion Thesaurus <--Bought this, but have not really looked through it yet. Still looks like it would be good to have.


I saw this one:

Trope Thesaurus <--I would avoid anything that uses the word 'Trope' like the plague.

 

[Veydris]

I don't think there's anything that makes it inherently easier to write. I still struggle, and often sit down at midnight, or after midnight, and bang out a chapter, or two. I would like to do earlier, but it hasn't really worked for me, and nothing that I have tried has made the act of writing easier. In a way, what has it made doable for me, is that I don't plot, nor plan. I enjoy discovering as I write, seeing where things go and how scenes play out. Yesterday when writing, I had a moment of near-biting my nails because I loved what I discovered in the story. But that's personally to me, and everyone's different in that regard. Whether they plot and plan to their hearts' out, or discover. Or both.

Inspiration, for me, comes from many places. I watch movies. I watch tv shows. I play games, I browse images. Yesterday I found an image of a knight staring down at a knight who looked down, along with an observing knight from a distance, and that image by itself, gave me an idea for a possible story that I wrote down as a quick snippet. You're watching a movie? Feel inspired. Notice. What do you like about it? What ideas does it give you?

As much as I have tried to get into self-help books, or writing exercises, or anything of that sort, none of them have really helped me too much. Or I'm just a muck at it. Hell, I was even fanatic about it years ago, finding, reading, skipping and thinking they were a magical cure that'll help me be a better writer. But to my dismay, they weren't. Of course, that's personal perspective, and what didn't work for me, might work for you.

 

[Incanus]

200 hours? I wish I could do it that fast.

Agreed. That's a time frame I have absolutely no hope of achieving. My book will probably require about 2000-4000 hours, I'd say.

That includes A LOT of time not being able to concentrate. My mind wanders. A lot. I can't think of any way to make it stop. But I also have a story to tell. Chances are high I'm wasting my time, but I just can't help it.

 

[Dylan]

Which type books give you the most inspiration and ideas to make it easy write? Is it a single book? same genre? Self help, learning exercise books? Movies about books? or snippets and quotes or blurbs of books? Or promts?

For me, it’s a mix of random quotes, weird prompts, and genre-blurring books spark the most ideas. Sometimes a single line from a novel or a bizarre movie scene gets my brain going. Give me something messy and unexpected.

 

[Prince of Spires]

200 hours? I wish I could do it that fast.

Agreed. That's a time frame I have absolutely no hope of achieving. My book will probably require about 2000-4000 hours, I'd say.

I think 200 hours is a decent estimate for getting a first draft on paper. However, that's pure writing time. It doesn't include the thinking parts or worldbuilding or staring at a blank screen for an hour.

But 500 words per hour is a decent writing speed. It's not blindingly fast, and many can get it. In terms of pure typing, it's less than 10 words a minute, though that's misleading ofcourse. At 500 words an hour, a 100k words novel takes 200 hours to type. Of course, it shifts with how many words your story is. If you're writing a 1 million word epic, then it will take a lot longer, while a 75k word novel should be a bit shorter.

For many though the issue is actually sitting down and typing for those 200 hours. If you spend that time researching or staring at your screen or being distracted, then it's not actually writing, and the time will add up.

 

[Fidel]

Which type books give you the most inspiration and ideas to make it easy write? Is it a single book? same genre? Self help, learning exercise books? Movies about books? or snippets and quotes or blurbs of books? Or promts?

It's hard say as inspiration can actually come from anywhere and doesn't have to be a book or something like that but yeah some can be more tailored to where they get their inspiration from while others can simply be free going and going with the flow.

 

[Incanus]

I think 200 hours is a decent estimate for getting a first draft on paper. However, that's pure writing time. It doesn't include the thinking parts or worldbuilding or staring at a blank screen for an hour.

But 500 words per hour is a decent writing speed. It's not blindingly fast, and many can get it. In terms of pure typing, it's less than 10 words a minute, though that's misleading ofcourse. At 500 words an hour, a 100k words novel takes 200 hours to type. Of course, it shifts with how many words your story is. If you're writing a 1 million word epic, then it will take a lot longer, while a 75k word novel should be a bit shorter.

For many though the issue is actually sitting down and typing for those 200 hours. If you spend that time researching or staring at your screen or being distracted, then it's not actually writing, and the time will add up.

That may be true for 'normal' people, but not me. I get maybe a little over 100 words per hour, and there' isn't much I can to do to make it any faster. At least, not on my current project. It may eventually reach around 120K-150K words, but with 4-5 revisions/touch-ups, my original estimate for time expended will be about right.

I don't do research while drafting, but I have great difficulty with concentration. I think I can say with confidence I've never written 500 words in one hour in my entire life. I can't picture doing it even once, much less every time.

I do wonder if my slow rate makes it not worth while sometimes. Of course, I can't claim to be entirely sane, so there's that (!)

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Sitting and typing is a bitch. Doing anything for hours straight is a bitch. I'm not sure how I ever get books done. And yet, there they are.

 

[Karlin]

This is true for many of us. I often wonder if and how attention deficits are related to creativity.

 

[Prince of Spires]

I never said is whas easy. Otherwise everyone would do it.

The fastest way for me to actually write is two-fold. First, I think through what I'm going to write. And then I write in short, 15 minute sprints. During that time, I can only write, nothing else. That's short enough for my brain to allow me to focus only on writing, and long enough to actually get some writing done. After the 15 minutes are over, I take a short break. Sometimes just to get a cup of tea, other times a 5 minute break. And after that another sprint.

I can get 150-ish words done in that time. Which is 450 words an hour, assuming 3 sprints. More if I really know what I'm writing and am far enough into a project that I know the story and the characters well enough.

I thought it was a silly idea until I actually tried it. So if you haven't give it a go.